Introducing Troubles
Song : Shadow and Light by Martin Luke Brown
Monday morning, and Lexa was stirring in the guest room. It was 6:30 am, and Lexa’s alarm clock was buzzing. Lexa sighed; this was usually her time to get up and prepare herself for work, but today, she didn’t know what to do. She was CEO, she couldn’t be gone for so long, and she hadn’t been really there since a week already. On the other hand, she didn’t want to leave Clarke and Ayden alone; Clarke was still recovering, and most of all, she didn’t want to let her the occasion to run away.
Yesterday, Clarke Ayden and her had spent the day playing and laughing, much to Lexa’s surprise. It had been a quiet Sunday, and Lexa had spent her time watching Clarke, the way she was smiling, the way her eyes were lightening when Ayden would smile to her. But Lexa had also noticed how Clarke was still shivering a little when someone was touching her without warning, the way she was slightly jumping when a sudden noise was heard, the way her eyes were always looking at the front door, as if she was waiting for someone to come in. Lexa hadn’t pushed the girl to talk, because Clarke was just coming out of her walls, but she knew they eventually needed to talk about all this.
And frankly, Lexa wanted to ask a thousand questions, to know everything there was to know. She wanted to know why Clarke and Ayden had run away from their house in the first place, and ended on the streets instead of asking for help to Lincoln and all their friends they seemed to have. She wanted to know why Ayden didn’t seem to go to school, and why Clarke didn’t seem to have a job. She wanted to know what Finn and Clarke’s relationship was like, and what Clarke had found in him for her to come home to him even if she knew he was a bad person. There were so many things Lexa didn’t know about Clarke, and a thousand possibilities were running on her mind.
Her phone rang, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Hello Titus” Lexa said, looking at the phone number.
“Hello, Heda. I hope you had a great weekend”, he said.
Lexa raised a brow, because Titus had never asked about her private life. She knew what it was really about, though; Titus was silently telling her she couldn’t be absent for too long and that she needed to come back to work. “Yes I did, thank you. Why are you calling me, Titus?”
“I wanted to remind you that Nia White is expected to be there at ten, Heda”.
Lexa clenched her teeth, because the last thing she wanted was to do was to see that bitch of Nia White. She had caused too much problems already, what could she want? Lexa knew the answer, of course; Nia wanted only one thing, her place as CEO.
“I’ll be there, Titus”, Lexa confirmed, much to her despair.
“Bye, Heda” the man said, hanging up.
Lexa passed her hand over her face and sighted again. She didn’t want to go, but Titus was right; she had responsibilities, she couldn’t be gone too long. She had decisions to make, people to guide and twelve companies to rule. She couldn’t stay hidden in her loft with Clarke and Ayden, even if she really wanted to.
She got up, and got in the shower.
John Murphy was heading out of Arcadia towards his car –if he could call that thing a car- to go to work. Murphy was working at Floukru, one of the companies inside Coalition corp. Actually he had been working there for a while, with Emori –who he had met there- but last week, he had been reassigned to work with some Titus guy, to learn things from him. Murphy knew a few things about that man; first, he was working for Coalition Corp.’s CEO, Lexa Woods, as an advisor. Second, he wasn’t known for his open-mind and his tolerance. Finally, Murphy knew he would have trouble working with this man as an assistant, but it was eventually necessary for the rest of his career.
Once in Coalition’s corp. major building, Murphy waited almost half an hour for someone to bring him to Titus, and when he did see the man, well, Murphy knew he had been right about him. This guy had a wood stick stuck in his ass. I’ll have great days, Murphy thought. But Murphy knew Titus was in direct contact with Lexa Woods, and with what they had learned yesterday, that Clarke was staying at Lexa’s place, maybe John would be able to do something for her in getting closer to Lexa, maybe getting infos or something.
“You’re John Murphy”, Titus stated, looking down on Murphy.
“The one and only”, John answered stretching out his hand.
Of course Titus didn’t take it, and made a small head move to tell Murphy to follow him.
“We have a meeting with Heda and Nia White, the woman in charge of the Azgeda Company, one of our twelve”, Titus informed him “you will have to take notes of the exchange without making yourself heard”.
John nodded, mentally asking himself who the fuck was Heda.
He didn’t had to wait too long for the answer though, because soon Lexa Woods was making her way into the corridor Titus and Murphy were waiting in.
“Heda, hello” Titus said, bowing his head when Lexa got closer.
Woods only nodded to him, and raised an interrogative brow at Murphy; she didn’t ask any questions about his presence, though.
“Is Nia White here already?” she asked with a formal voice.
For a moment, John Murphy was intrigued by this woman. She wasn’t that tall, but there was something about her, maybe the way she was speaking or maybe it was her posture, but she had something majestic about her, making her scary at the same time. Of course John wasn’t scared by anyone but still, the brunette had something which would make everyone think twice about what he had to say. Kind of like Clarke sometimes, Murphy was thinking.
“I believe Nia is waiting for you in the council room” Titus said.
The three of them walked towards the office, and John was amazed by the number of rooms this building had. As he was walking, he wondered how many people were actually working here in this very building, and how many people Coalition Corp. was employing to make the twelve companies rolling.
The more Murphy was thinking about it, the more it was becoming clear in his mind; 80% of the people in Polis were actually working for Lexa Woods. It wasn’t hard to verify this simple fact; in their only group, Raven, Emori and him were working directly for Lexa Woods. Bellamy and Bryan worked for the police, whose station was owned by Coalition Corp., same for Octavia and her secret team. Monty was a computer guy fixing things in one of the company too, while Harper was training to enter the police. Clarke had worked at Polis’ hospital, owned by Lexa Woods’ Sandkru, the medical company. Every each of their lives was depending on this brunette woman Murphy was following.
They entered a room with a big glass table and at least twenty seats, to see a woman with hair as white as snow.
“Lexa Woods is finally honouring me from her presence” the tall woman snorted, a little smirk on her face. Lexa on the contrary was wearing a complete neutral face, without any emotions.
Murphy knew it right away; that woman was trouble, and he hated her immediately.
“Don’t bother, Nia, we both know why you are here” Lexa snapped.
The tall woman smirked, and sat down. “Very well. You think I’m the one behind the article of you running for Mayor”, Nia White said.
“You’re behind a lot of things, Nia” Lexa retorted, sitting down too.
Titus shot a glare at John, who had forgotten he was supposed to take notes. Murphy opened his notebook, and began to write down all that the two women were saying. Actually, he wasn’t exactly writing everything; Murphy knew well how to read people, and he was adding with a pencil Nia’s face’s expressions; the way her brows were raising, the way her lips were moving; all about her attitude.
“I will not let you insult me, Lexa” Nia falsely protested.
But Lexa Woods was Heda. She was Coalition Corp.’s CEO, and she will not let herself be intimated by anyone.
“You will address me as Heda” Lexa hissed through her teeth.
Nia White hummed. She wasn’t expecting Lexa to be this calm. After all, Lexa was just a child who had inherited of something much bigger than her, wasn’t she? Nia was sure Lexa had weaknesses, and she knew Lexa would break, soon or later. In fact, she had already found one of Lexa’s weaknesses in the past; Costia. Nia smirked at the thought.
“As you wish”, Nia bowed her head with mockery, “Heda”. The tall woman took a second to look into Lexa’s eyes before speaking again, “But I have a proposition to make”.
Titus frowned, because he wasn’t expecting this. Neither was Lexa, but if she was surprised, she didn’t show it, keeping her impartial mask on her face. She only raised a brow at Nia to make her develop her proposition.
“Heda”, Titus whispered in Lexa’s ear, “may I ask for security to...”
But Lexa raised her hand at him, cutting him off “let her do her move” she said, and nodded to Nia so she can continue.
“Some people on the council board are... Concerned” Nia began, “by the fact that you are just a child, so my proposition is, make me the vice-president of Coalition Corp. This way, they’ll be reassured by the fact of someone older helping you rule, someone who can be a public face” she added, looking directly at Titus.
It was Lexa’s turn to snort.
“Someone older to help me rule”, Lexa repeated, “I don’t need someone like this. I am Heda, CEO of the twelve companies. And I did just fine on my own. Look for yourself”.
Lexa threw a bunch of papers over to Nia White, who eyed them suspiciously. Those papers were the numbers of Coalition Corp., their benefits and their losses. And those numbers were good. Nia White almost choked, because they were more than good. They were excellent. Lexa had managed to make the companies grow, and in fact, each one of the twelve had double their benefits since Lexa was in charge.
Nia put the papers back, thinking hard. She wouldn’t be able to convince the board Lexa was incompetent now, not with those numbers. And Nia had looked at the numbers very well; Azgeda Company was the last on the list; if Lexa had to end a company right now, Azgeda would be her target.
“What do you say, Nia?” Titus asked, “Does Lexa really need to work with you when your company is the worst of them all?”
Murphy was waiting for the woman’s reaction. Nia White had her eyes squinted, probably searching for her next move.
“I have to admit, the results are better I thought they would be”, Nia admitted but not with that smirk still painted on her face, “but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re young. Young people are lucky first, and then, they make mistakes”.
Nia got up, heading towards the door.
“Trust me Heda, you will need me. And when that day will come, it will already be too late”.
Without any more words, Nia White disappeared in the corridors, getting out of the building. Finally alone, Murphy noticed how Lexa’s face suddenly dropped from exhaustion.
“She will be trouble, Heda” Titus said.
“Yes, she will” Lexa said, “but let her come. I’ll handle her”.
Titus seemed to want to add something but did not when Lexa got up to go to her office. Titus sighed, and followed Lexa, himself followed by Murphy. Titus asked for John’s notes, and sighed when he read them. It wasn’t that bad, Murphy thought.
“Go, you are dismissed for the day” Titus said.
Murphy hesitated to protest, after all he was there to learn, but after Titus shot him a death glare, Murphy understood and disappeared in the stairs.
Titus entered the office seconds after Lexa.
“Who was this guy following you today, an apprentice?” Lexa asked.
“John Murphy. An arrogant person, he works at Floukru. His boss thinks he has a lot of things to learn from me, and it is in my contract to take an apprentice. His boss thinks he has what it takes to help a leader lead well” Titus said while sighing.
Lexa hummed, internally smiling. She knew Titus probably hated this; he had always worked alone, and he sure wasn’t ready to share his work. After all Lexa was his biggest success; of all the CEO he had trained, this one was THE one, and he was her advisor and teacher. Of course Lexa already had all those things it took to lead twelve companies, but still, Titus liked to say a part of the woman she was, was thanks to him.
To Lexa, he had been a real shoulder to lean on when she had to learn everything in a few months to rule directly after her predecessor. Lexa hadn’t been ready for this, but Titus had made her be. Lexa knew she owed a lot of things to him, but as she was growing and getting wiser, she was beginning to see the man under the teacher; Titus was just a man, not better than her. He didn’t know everything, nor did Lexa; and Lexa was the one in charge. The choices were her choices, and she had learned that sometimes she had to trust herself more rather than trust Titus.
“What else do I have to look at Today Titus?” Lexa asked, because she was very aware Clarke and Ayden were theoretically at home waiting for her, and she wanted to be back as soon as possible.
Titus sighed because he knew something was up with Lexa these days, but he knew better than to ask, and gave Lexa the papers she had to take a look at.
The sun was going down, and Bellamy was pacing in his apartment. He had promised Lincoln he wouldn’t look for Clarke, but he had done it. He had called one of his friends at the police station, had made some researches on the police records, and after half a day, he had found Lexa Woods’ address.
The paper in his hands, Bellamy was still thinking about what to do. Clarke couldn’t be in the right state of mind to decide anything; she was living with a perfect stranger after all. Bellamy knew Clarke well, and nothing was more important to her than protecting the people she cared about; maybe now, it was their turn, his turn, to protect Clarke and her son. Bellamy couldn’t bear the thought of Clarke being scared, crying alone in a stranger bed, and he knew he had to do something to help her and rescue her.
His decision was made and he took his coat, searched for his keys and was ready to head outside when Raven and Monty made their way into the apartment. Raven frowned when she noticed Bellamy was dressed, and most of all she noticed the weird look he had on his face.
“Bellamy? What are you doing?” she asked while Monty was closing the door behind them.
“Nothing” he tried to shrug.
Monty frowned too. “What’s that thing you’re holding?”
As Bellamy was taking too long to answer, Raven quickly moved and took the piece of paper from his hands.
“Tell me this is not what I think this is, Bellamy” Raven asked. She had read the paper, and she had read the address on it. Raven was too smart not to guess whose address it was.
“What do you want me to say?” Bellamy said, raising his arms on the air.
“Tell me this is not Lexa Woods’ address! You promised you wouldn’t try to reach out to Blondie before she did, we all promised!” Raven said, angry at Bellamy because she should have known he would still try to do something.
“And so what? We give up?” Bellamy raised his voice.
“Bellamy, this isn’t the way”, Monty tried to reason him, but it only made Bellamy be angrier.
“We can’t lose Clarke”, he screamed, “We can’t lose her!”
“And we won’t” Raven then said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “but we need to do things her way”.
Bellamy then weakly nodded, sitting on the couch and taking his head on his hands.
“Listen Bellamy, we need to trust her. She surely needs to figure some things out on her own” Raven explained, “and we can’t burst in her life like this. She has to be the one making the first move”.
Monty nodded at Raven’s words, “She saw Lincoln. She knows we are here. She’ll be back soon”.
Bellamy nodded again. He knew they shouldn’t try to reach out for her, but Clarke, she really was the heart of the group. They were always trying to persuade themselves she was not, but at the end, they would always need her. Without her, something was off; himself was feeling half-alive when she was not around. He wasn’t in love with her, neither was he attracted to her, nah it wasn’t about this. But Clarke was his best friend; she had been here since day one, and even if he was always trying to forget it, she had been a much better leader than him and he had always been looking up to her.
Raven sighed while taking a seat on the couch. Bellamy wasn’t a bad guy really, but sometimes he was letting his emotions rule him, and he could be a real pain in the ass.
But Raven needed Clarke too, as everyone else did; and she was wondering when she would reach out to them.
Don’t take too long Clarke, Raven thought.